Román Ribera

ROMAN RIBERA CIRERA (Barcelona, 1848 - 1935).
"The musketeer.
Oil on canvas.
The stretcher frame has been changed.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 130.5 x 110 cm; 158 x 138 cm (frame).

Although he specialized in contemporary scenes of high society and social events, Roman Ribera also made numerous scenes set in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Among these historical settings, those of musketeers stood out, a very popular genre among the bourgeois clientele of the 19th century, within a context still inherited from romanticism, which sought in the idealized recreation of the past as a way of escape from everyday reality. On this occasion, Román Ribera offers us the image of a musketeer who gazes enraptured at his sword. For this he uses a chromatic range of warm ochers, earthy and reddish tones, which he punctuates and contrasts, however, with the characteristic clothing of the protagonist. The artist, on the other hand, reveals himself as a great draughtsman and shows his interest in psychological introspection, offering us the image of a concentrated character. Every detail of the clothing has been described in its just qualities, as it was usual in Roman Ribera's precious plastic art.

Catalan painter, Roman Ribera studied drawing at the School of La Lonja in Barcelona, and painting at the academy of Pere Borrell. He furthered his studies in Rome, between 1873 and 1976, and traveled and exhibited in London. In the Italian capital he attended the Chigi Academy and dedicated himself to painting, but avoiding the contagion of the academicist mannerism of the Roman school. In 1877 he went to Paris, under the guidance of the art dealer Adolphe Goupil, who had acquired the rights to reproduce all his work. There he continued his training, this time directly studying scenes of Parisian street life. A year later, he took part in the Universal Exhibition in Paris, where he obtained a decisive success thanks to the three works he presented, of a remarkable verism with literary roots. However, he did not feel at ease with this type of themes, and soon began to focus on depicting the elegant life of the time, in works such as "Exit from the ball", which alternates with genre scenes in the Spanish Baroque tradition as "A flamenco drinker". In 1881 he took part in the National Exhibition of Madrid precisely with the aforementioned work of baroque setting, and in 1883 he was awarded the Encomienda de Isabel la Católica. After twelve years in Paris he returned to Barcelona, where he had already exhibited at the Centro de Acuarelistas (1885) and at the recently inaugurated Sala Parés. He then showed his work at the Artistic and Literary Association and at the Parés and Rovira halls, as well as at the Universal Exhibition of 1888 and the Fine Arts Exhibition of 1894, obtaining great critical and public success, soon gaining the favor of the wealthy Catalan bourgeoisie. In 1893 he presented two paintings to the Exhibition organized by the Ateneo de Barcelona: "Inocencia" and "Incógnitca". Individually Cirera showed his work regularly in the Rovira room and, as a group, he was a member of the Artistic and Literary Society of Catalonia. He was part of several official juries, and also of the Board of Museums of Barcelona, in 1901. In 1915 he was named Member of Merit of the Artistic Circle of Barcelona. On his return to Spain, Ribera continued to depict the life of the upper classes, the luxury of their homes, the richness of their party dresses, etc., becoming a faithful portraitist of the Catalan high bourgeoisie of the Restoration, as he had already been of the French bourgeoisie of the Third Republic. He worked mainly in Barcelona, but also traveled to Madrid and held exhibitions of his work there. His work is currently conserved in the MACBA in Barcelona, the Museu d'Art de Girona, the Museu de Montserrat, the Biblioteca Víctor Balaguer and in various important private collections.